At last night's Republican debate, Fred Thompson finally showed up. Better late than never, I guess, and one comment in particular by Fred was worth the price of admission. That was the one where Thompson unmasked Mike Huckabee as the pseudo Republican that he is. Here's the quote:

"I think that governor Huckabee's campaign manager said it accurately, in terms of what they believe. They believe that it is over [the Reagan Revolution]. This is a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican party, and it's future. On the one hand, you have the Reagan revolution. You have the Reagan coalition of limited government and strong national security. On the other hand, you have the direction that governor Huckabee would take us in. He would be a Christian leader, but he would also bring about liberal economic policies and liberal foreign policies. He believes we have an arrogant foreign policy, in the tradition of blame america first. He believes that Guantanamo should be shut down and those enemy combatants brought here to the United States, to find their way into the court system eventually. He believes in taxpayer funded programs for illegals, as he did in Arkansas. He has the endorsement of the National Education Association, and the NEA said it was because of his opposition to vouchers. He said he would sign a bill that would ban smoking nationwide. So much for federalism. So much for states rights. So much for individual rights. That's not the model of the Reagan coalition. That's the model of the Democratic party".

Bravo, Fred, and kudos to whoever gave you the go-juice last night. You won that debate. There IS a battle going on for the heart and soul of the Republican party, and Huckabee is on the wrong side. I only wonder why Fred didn't go after John McCain in the same fashion when he had the chance. Instead, he backed off of his friend. He shouldn't have. This is too important. This liberalization of the Republican party has got to stop. Big spending Republicans have got to go. Republicans who don't support low taxes have got to go. Republicans who don't support strong border enforcement have got to go. Republicans who don't support strong national security have got to go. Republicans who don't support individual freedom have got to go. If the Reagan Revolution is over, then for all practical purposes, the Republican party is over. In that case, all we are left with is two versions of the Democratic party - one moderately left, and one far left. I can think of no surer recipe for disaster. When Republicans start imitating Democrats, there is no longer a reason to vote for Republicans.

Fred Thompson stands for conservative policies across the board, and always has, which is pretty refreshing among this current group of Republican presidential hopefuls. Due to his lackluster campaign (until last night), he probably won't be around too much longer, but I believe he made the single most important statement about the future of the Republican party that we have seen in this presidential contest to date. I hope the voters were listening, and I hope they send Huckabee packing.